Today I get to introduce my first female character into the story... and my first human character... To help escape confusion that could come up, this Astrid is NOT the Astrid that was mentioned in the prologue; that was a different Astrid... confusing to have two Astrids in the story, especially when they both are major/semi-major characters--yes, I know. But I have my reasons for it (good reasons too!) So please don't get too confused... If you do get too confused, comment about it and I'll see if I can make it less confusing.
Part II: Astrid
Date: Amanela 1st, 114 A.U
“A corsha miner has been injured in mining district D7,” the loudspeakers announced. “Help is requested immediately.” Astrid muttered something under her breath as she moved toward the ambulance. She hoped it was a quick and easy fix; this was going to make her miss the annual Remembrance Ceremony.
Getting in the ambulance, she nodded to her co-worker, which had gotten in the driver’s seat. “Let’s make this snappy,” Astrid said. “Ok?”
“I’ll do my best,” the man said as he drove the ambulance out from the hospital parking lot. The hangar doors opened, and the ambulance moved out.
Lights shone down from the lights in the Great Cavern as the ambulance made its way down the street toward mining district D7. The ambulance made its way through the streets for ten minutes, sirens blaring, before it turned down into a tunnel that connected the Great Cavern to the Dyorvak Cavern.
Astrid tapped her fingers impatiently against the door of the ambulance as she watched the lights fly by on the tunnel ceiling. The ambulance was one of the more higher-tech vehicles in the city of Araelia, using the best hovering technology available. Astrid always had secretly wanted to be able to sometime get outside with one of these hovering vehicles to see how far they would be able to get off the ground, but, of course, it was too dangerous.
The vehicle pulled into a large cavern, though it was smaller than the Great Cavern. The ambulance moved around the outer side of the cavern and started passing tunnels to different mining sections. D4, D5, D6…
“D7! Turn left here!” Astrid said.
“I know what I’m doing,” the man said. “Relax, Astrid…” The ambulance pulled in through the tunnel until it emerged in a much smaller cavern than the others. There were some low buildings near the entrance to the cavern. Half of the cavern was empty, small corsha remains scattered throughout the area. The other half was full of corsha stalagmites and stalactites growing up and down out of the ground.
The ambulance came to a halt a couple yards away from the nearest corsha stalagmite, and Astrid jumped out, carrying her medical kit with her. Weaving her way through the corsha outcroppings, she looked for a wounded miner, staying as far away from the corsha as possible. The corsha glowed, bringing light to this cavern. It was the burning corsha metal that slowly grew in certain caverns, that was used for all the weapons, not including guns. The burning corsha could slice through most substances, one of the exceptions being itself, once it had expired and merely become a normal metal that didn’t burn at all. Astrid knew more about corsha than she wanted to. Too many miners got hurt by an accident with it. And with corsha, any accident was a bad accident.
Astrid heard a cry and ran over to a miner, propped up on the ground, two of his buddies next to him. “What’s the matter?” Astrid asked, running over to see the miner.
“Was mining…” the miner said through gritted teeth. “I slipped, and the corsha cut my leg…”
Astrid knelt down and examined his leg. The miner had a three inch wide gash that began right below his knee and ran down his leg. The miner and his two friends seemed to have been trying to stop the blood, but there was still blood flowing.
Astrid opened her medical kit and got out a strip of gauze, and carefully laid it and then began to press it against the wound. “Hold it there, please,” she said to one of the miner’s two friends, and then rummaged through the medical kit. Getting out her supplies, she waited for the gauze pad to take effect before taking it off. The cut had stopped bleeding so Astrid examined it more. The wound was deepest and most open in the middle. It was going to need stitches.
“This might sting some,” Astrid said, as she opened a bottle. “I’m going to be using this to clean off the wound first. I’m going to have to put some stitches in for the wound.” She dripped some of the liquid on a washcloth and then slowly ran it around the wound.
Astrid turned to see the ambulance driver beside her. “Michael!’ she said, reading his name tag. “Go get me the supplies for putting in stitches!” Michael ran off, and Astrid picked up a bottle. She took some out of it and prepared a shot.
“I’m going to be giving you a shot close to the gash to numb up the wound for the stitches,” Astrid said mechanically and she gave him the shot as Michael came back with the kit that she needed.
Astrid waited some for the shot to take affect, and then drew a slightly thicker needle from her pack. “Now here’s the part where I’d rather you didn’t look at the wound,” she said. “I’m going to be running the needle around the wound and I need to know if you can still feel pain, or if the shot has taken effect. If you feel any pain, tell me.” The man looked away and Astrid began slowly running the needle around the edges of the wound.
“Ow, that was painful,” the miner said.
“Ok…” Astrid said, continuing to run the needle around the wound.
“That was slightly painful…” the miner said. “This is fine… slightly more painful… very painful..”
“Ok,” Astrid said and withdrew the needle, waiting dome more to let the shot take more effect.
“I’m going to try that again,” Astrid said after a few minutes, and redid it. This time the miner said anything. “Ok; good,” Astrid said. “We’re now going to do the stitches. You can watch if you want, but if you feel any queasiness or nervousness, I’d rather you stopped. The last thing we want is for you to faint here.” Astrid turned to Michael, who handed her a curved metal needle that was attached to a thick thread. Taking a deep breath, Astrid pinched the skin together with her hand and began to thread the thread through the wound.
Astrid slammed the door shut and withdrew her breath as Michael got into the ambulance. “Whew! Glad that’s over!” she said, and looked at the time. It was 12:45. The ceremony would be starting in 15 minutes. “Try to get to the hospital as quick as possible. I don’t want to miss much of the ceremony.”
Part II: Astrid
Date: Amanela 1st, 114 A.U
“A corsha miner has been injured in mining district D7,” the loudspeakers announced. “Help is requested immediately.” Astrid muttered something under her breath as she moved toward the ambulance. She hoped it was a quick and easy fix; this was going to make her miss the annual Remembrance Ceremony.
Getting in the ambulance, she nodded to her co-worker, which had gotten in the driver’s seat. “Let’s make this snappy,” Astrid said. “Ok?”
“I’ll do my best,” the man said as he drove the ambulance out from the hospital parking lot. The hangar doors opened, and the ambulance moved out.
Lights shone down from the lights in the Great Cavern as the ambulance made its way down the street toward mining district D7. The ambulance made its way through the streets for ten minutes, sirens blaring, before it turned down into a tunnel that connected the Great Cavern to the Dyorvak Cavern.
Astrid tapped her fingers impatiently against the door of the ambulance as she watched the lights fly by on the tunnel ceiling. The ambulance was one of the more higher-tech vehicles in the city of Araelia, using the best hovering technology available. Astrid always had secretly wanted to be able to sometime get outside with one of these hovering vehicles to see how far they would be able to get off the ground, but, of course, it was too dangerous.
The vehicle pulled into a large cavern, though it was smaller than the Great Cavern. The ambulance moved around the outer side of the cavern and started passing tunnels to different mining sections. D4, D5, D6…
“D7! Turn left here!” Astrid said.
“I know what I’m doing,” the man said. “Relax, Astrid…” The ambulance pulled in through the tunnel until it emerged in a much smaller cavern than the others. There were some low buildings near the entrance to the cavern. Half of the cavern was empty, small corsha remains scattered throughout the area. The other half was full of corsha stalagmites and stalactites growing up and down out of the ground.
The ambulance came to a halt a couple yards away from the nearest corsha stalagmite, and Astrid jumped out, carrying her medical kit with her. Weaving her way through the corsha outcroppings, she looked for a wounded miner, staying as far away from the corsha as possible. The corsha glowed, bringing light to this cavern. It was the burning corsha metal that slowly grew in certain caverns, that was used for all the weapons, not including guns. The burning corsha could slice through most substances, one of the exceptions being itself, once it had expired and merely become a normal metal that didn’t burn at all. Astrid knew more about corsha than she wanted to. Too many miners got hurt by an accident with it. And with corsha, any accident was a bad accident.
Astrid heard a cry and ran over to a miner, propped up on the ground, two of his buddies next to him. “What’s the matter?” Astrid asked, running over to see the miner.
“Was mining…” the miner said through gritted teeth. “I slipped, and the corsha cut my leg…”
Astrid knelt down and examined his leg. The miner had a three inch wide gash that began right below his knee and ran down his leg. The miner and his two friends seemed to have been trying to stop the blood, but there was still blood flowing.
Astrid opened her medical kit and got out a strip of gauze, and carefully laid it and then began to press it against the wound. “Hold it there, please,” she said to one of the miner’s two friends, and then rummaged through the medical kit. Getting out her supplies, she waited for the gauze pad to take effect before taking it off. The cut had stopped bleeding so Astrid examined it more. The wound was deepest and most open in the middle. It was going to need stitches.
“This might sting some,” Astrid said, as she opened a bottle. “I’m going to be using this to clean off the wound first. I’m going to have to put some stitches in for the wound.” She dripped some of the liquid on a washcloth and then slowly ran it around the wound.
Astrid turned to see the ambulance driver beside her. “Michael!’ she said, reading his name tag. “Go get me the supplies for putting in stitches!” Michael ran off, and Astrid picked up a bottle. She took some out of it and prepared a shot.
“I’m going to be giving you a shot close to the gash to numb up the wound for the stitches,” Astrid said mechanically and she gave him the shot as Michael came back with the kit that she needed.
Astrid waited some for the shot to take affect, and then drew a slightly thicker needle from her pack. “Now here’s the part where I’d rather you didn’t look at the wound,” she said. “I’m going to be running the needle around the wound and I need to know if you can still feel pain, or if the shot has taken effect. If you feel any pain, tell me.” The man looked away and Astrid began slowly running the needle around the edges of the wound.
“Ow, that was painful,” the miner said.
“Ok…” Astrid said, continuing to run the needle around the wound.
“That was slightly painful…” the miner said. “This is fine… slightly more painful… very painful..”
“Ok,” Astrid said and withdrew the needle, waiting dome more to let the shot take more effect.
“I’m going to try that again,” Astrid said after a few minutes, and redid it. This time the miner said anything. “Ok; good,” Astrid said. “We’re now going to do the stitches. You can watch if you want, but if you feel any queasiness or nervousness, I’d rather you stopped. The last thing we want is for you to faint here.” Astrid turned to Michael, who handed her a curved metal needle that was attached to a thick thread. Taking a deep breath, Astrid pinched the skin together with her hand and began to thread the thread through the wound.
Astrid slammed the door shut and withdrew her breath as Michael got into the ambulance. “Whew! Glad that’s over!” she said, and looked at the time. It was 12:45. The ceremony would be starting in 15 minutes. “Try to get to the hospital as quick as possible. I don’t want to miss much of the ceremony.”
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